St. Nick and his reindeer flew over Pyongyang on Christmas Eve to deliver presents, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, whose official map of Santa’s travels showed his airborne sleigh over the North Korean capital around midnight, local time.

“I am sure there are still children who have been very good this year in North Korea and they do deserve presents,” Adm. William Gortney, the NORAD commander, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Read More »

Islamic State has organized itself to adapt to the U.S. strategy of targeting the group’s leaders, a former defense intelligence chief said Tuesday.

Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s annual CEO Council meeting, Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who stepped down from his post as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in August, said Islamic State is “a learning organization” that pays close attention to its failures and successes. Read More »

Two months after its first airstrikes against Islamic State, Washington has finally named its latest military operation in the Middle East. The delay was curious. Maybe it was hard to come up with a title that embraced the massive but amorphous nature of this novel intervention against Islamic State, an extremist movement (also known as ISIS or ISIL) that has gobbled up vast chunks of Iraq and Syria.

The choice–”Operation Inherent Resolve”–has both a loneliness and a longness about it, and even a sadness. It reflects both the dashed hopes of the past and the distance anticipated before future gains. It doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence either. Indeed, it almost sounds despondent. Read More »

Cybersecurity threats are increasing in frequency and sophistication as technological advances make it easier to wage cyber attacks, according to the Army’s top cyber officer.

As recently as five years ago, would-be cyber attackers needed expert knowledge to take down systems and networks. Now, they can download tools to conduct these operations online, said Lt. Gen. Edward Cardon, commanding general of U.S. Army Cyber Command. Read More »

The Army’s top general said Monday that an increase in threats around the world requires that the U.S. rethink plans to cut the size of the American military’s ground force.

The Army agreed – reluctantly — to cut the size of its force to 490,000 under the budget reductions originally approved in 2011. But as a result of subsequent White House-Congress spending battles and military budget reviews, Pentagon leaders said the Army has had to make plans to shrink even further, to 450,000 or even 420,000. Read More »

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said lawmakers should be ready to debate and vote on a measure laying out the U.S. military’s authority to wage war against Islamic State when they return to Washington after November’s midterm elections.

Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, Mrs. Pelosi said she disagreed with the suggestion from House Speaker John Boehner that Congress should defer to the White House on defining the scope of U.S. military operations. While President Barack Obama currently has the authority he needs to conduct the air strikes and other operations against Islamic State fighters, lawmakers must proactively weigh in on the longer-term use of military force, she said. Read More »

Military personnel and veterans need to have more nondrug options for treating chronic pain, according to the government, which announced Thursday that it’s putting nearly $22 million into funding 13 research projects into the effort.

Chronic pain affects 44% of the military after combat, according to a recent study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, and nearly 100 million adults in the U.S. Many military personnel with pain also have related conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury, which together lead to increasing disability, according to the article. Read More »

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Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.